Mathews fumbled at the Eagles’ 8-yard line with 1:13 remaining in the first half. But unlike certain times in the Norv Turner era, you wouldn’t know by his subsequent carries.

Mathews was on the field to start the second half. And while Danny Woodhead and Ronnie Brown finished that series, it was due to the Chargers going to a hurry-up offense. That Mathews is not the guy in that situation is not due to ball security.

Mathews returned for the first carry of the next series, then was absent for another hurry-up drive.

But when the Chargers needed a yard on third-and-one from the Philadelphia 17, down 27-23 with four minutes remaining, it was Mathews who got the ball.

“Get that first down,” Mathew said of his thought before the two-yard gain. “(Mike McCoy) believes in me. The team believes in me. Get that first down.”

Chargers at Eagles, 9/15/13

McCoy, in his first year as Chargers head coach, explained that he had counseled Mathews that, essentially, stuff happens.

“You’re going to play, you’re going to make a mistake,” McCoy said of his words to Mathews. “You just keep going, don’t worry about the last play. Philip (Rivers) has made a mistake, there’s going to be a bad call, I’ll make a poor decision somewhere. You do something, keep going. The future is now, just keep playing.”

Sticking with Mathews is a pretty central illustration of how McCoy preaches and practices calm and consistency.

“That’s why we won the game,” he said of the entire team’s approach Sunday. “We didn’t say ‘Oh, here we go.’ We just said, ‘We’re going to find a way to win the game, and that’s what we did.’ ”

The truth is, too, that the Chargers must have faith in their talented but undependable young back because he is the one who can make plays for them. He turns losses into short gains, bursts through holes unlike any of their other backs.

Heck, on Sunday, he even had his first 20-yard rush after a 203-carry drought. Besides losing the ball, big gains are the blight on Mathews’ resume. That he entered Sunday’s game averaging 4.3 yards a carry despite having just 12 runs of 20 or more yards is almost unfathomable and is certainly a testament to his consistency when he does stay on the field.

Mathews, who had 73 yards on 16 carries Sunday, appears through two games to be running as technically sound and strong as he ever has.

And he is loath to acknowledge much he can fix.

Mathews said he looked at pictures of the play on the sideline and concluded the fumble was as a result of good play by the defense.

Mathews was, in fact, holding the ball away from his body as he was spun around when Trent Cole hit him. It was similar to the way he was holding the ball when it was dislodged on a goal line run in the preseason and all too familiar a sight.

That could be termed denial.

But it is also, perhaps, how Mathews has to perceive himself.

“You’ve got to look past it,” he said. “Something is going to happen in the game you don’t like. You’ve got to play forward from there. That’s the big thing I’m trying to do this year is let go of the last play.”